Godwin the thane seal first half 11th century

In later

Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or early medieval England covers the period from the end of Roman Empire, Roman imperial rule in Roman Britain, Britain in the 5th century until the Norman Conquest in 1066. Compared to modern England, the territory of the ...

, a thegn or thane (Latin minister) was an aristocrat who ranked at the third level in lay society, below the king and

ealdormen Ealdorman ( , )"ealdorman"
''

Thanage A thanage was an area of land held by a thegn in Anglo-Saxon England. Thanage can also denote the rank held by such a thegn In later Anglo-Saxon England, a thegn or thane (Latin minister) was an aristocrat who ranked at the third level in lay ...

refers to the tenure by which lands were held by a thane as well as the rank; an approximately equivalent modern title may be that of

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

. The term ''thane'' was also used in

early medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Middle Ages of Europ ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

for a class of retainers, and ''

thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

'' was a title given to local royal officials in medieval eastern

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, equivalent in rank to the child of an

earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

Etymology

''Thegn'' is only used once in the laws before the reign of King

Æthelstan Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ; ; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern histori ...

(924–939), but more frequently in charters. Apparently unconnected to the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

word '' '' ('to serve'), H. M. Chadwick suggests "the sense of subordination must have been inherent... from the earliest time". It gradually expanded in meaning and use, to denote a member of a territorial nobility, while thegnhood was attainable by fulfilling certain conditions. ''

An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary ''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary'' is a dictionary of Old English (also known as Anglo-Saxon). Four editions of the dictionary were published. It has often (especially in earlier times) been considered the definitive lexicon for Old English. It is ...

'' describes a thane as "one engaged in a king's or a queen's service, whether in the household or in the country". It adds: "the word... seems gradually to acquire a technical meaning... denoting a class, containing several degrees".

Origins

In the 5th century,

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

collectively known as

Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

migrated to

sub-Roman Britain Sub-Roman Britain, also called post-Roman Britain or Dark Age Britain, is the period of late antiquity in Great Britain between the end of Roman rule and the founding of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The term was originally used to describe archae ...

and came to dominate the east and southeast of the island. Based on archaeological evidence (such as burials and buildings), these early communities appear to have lacked any social elite. Around half the population were free, independent farmers (Old English: ) who cultivated a

hide Hide or hides may refer to: Common uses * Hide (skin), the cured skin of an animal * Bird hide, a structure for observing birds and other wildlife without causing disturbance * Gamekeeper's hide or hunting hide or hunting blind, a structure to hi ...

of land (enough to provide for a family).

Slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, mostly native

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, w ...

, made up the other half. By the late 6th century, the archeological evidence (grander burials and buildings) suggests the development of a social elite. This period coincided with the

Late Antique Little Ice Age The Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) was a long-lasting Northern Hemispheric cooling period in the 6th and 7th centuries AD, during the period known as Late Antiquity. The period coincides with three large volcanic eruptions in 535/536, 539/ ...

and the

Plague of Justinian The plague of Justinian or Justinianic plague (AD 541–549) was an epidemic of Plague (disease), plague that afflicted the entire Mediterranean basin, Mediterranean Basin, Europe, and the Near East, especially the Sasanian Empire and the Byza ...

. These events would have caused famine and other societal disruptions that may have increased violence and led previously independent farmers to submit to the rule of strong lords. The Old English word for ''lord'' is ( or ). The early law codes of Kent use the Old English word (, ) to describe a nobleman. By the 8th century, the word gesith (; Latin: ) had replaced as the common term for a nobleman. There were both land-owning and landless gesiths. A landless gesith would serve as a

retainer Retainer may refer to: * Retainer (orthodontics), devices for teeth * RFA Retainer (A329), RFA ''Retainer'' (A329), a ship * Retainers in early China, a social group in early China Employment * Retainer agreement, a contract in which an employer p ...

in the of a king, queen, or lord. In return, they were provided protection (Old English: ) and gifts of gold and silver. Young nobles were raised with the children of kings to someday become their gesith. A gesith might be granted an estate in reward for loyal service. By the 10th century, Anglo-Saxon society was divided into three main social classes: slaves, (), and (, ). ''Thegn'' (Old English: ) meant servant or warrior, and it replaced the term ''gesith''. Law codes assigned a

weregeld Weregild (also spelled wergild, wergeld (in archaic/historical usage of English), weregeld, etc.), also known as man price ( blood money), was a precept in some historical legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, ...

or man price of 200

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...

s for a and 1,200s for a thegn.

Ranks and functions

Thegns were divided into three ranks:

ealdormen Ealdorman ( , )"ealdorman"
''

), king's thegns, and median thegns. Below ealdormen were king's thegns, so called because they only served the king. The lowest thegnly rank were the median thegns who owed service to other thegns. The higher a thegn's rank, the greater the

heriot Heriot, from Old English ''heregeat'' ("war-gear"), was originally a death-duty in late Anglo-Saxon England, which required that at death, a nobleman provided to his king a given set of military equipment, often including horses, swords, shields ...

he paid to the king. Thegns were the backbone of local government and the military.

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

s were drawn from this class, and thegns were required to attend the

shire court A shire court or shire moot was an Anglo-Saxon government institution, used to maintain law and order at a local level, and perform various administrative functions, including the collection of taxes for the central government. The system origina ...

and give judgment. For these reasons, historian David Carpenter described thegns as "the

country gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...

of Anglo-Saxon England". Although their exact role is unclear, the twelve senior thegns of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

played a part in the development of the English system of justice. Under a law of Aethelred they "seem to have acted as the judicial committee of the court for the purposes of accusation". This suggests some connection with the modern

jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are increasingly used ...

Social mobility

Children inherited thegnly status from their father, and a thegnly woman who married a retained her noble status. A successful thegn might hope to be promoted to earl. A prosperous could become a landlord in his own right and aspire to thegnly rank. In the legal tract ''

Geþyncðo ''Geþyncðo'' (also ''Geþyncðu''), meaning “Dignities”, is the title given to an Old English legal tract on status and social mobility, probably written by Wulfstan (II), Archbishop of York between 1002 and 1023. It is sometimes known as ...

'', Archbishop Wulfstan of York (1002–1023) detailed the criteria for attaining thegnhood: "And if a prospered, that he possessed fully five hides of his own, a ''belhus'' and a ''burhgeat'' defensible manor house">manor_house.html" ;"title=" defensible manor house"> defensible manor house a seat and special office in the king’s hall, then was he henceforth entitled to the rights of a thegn."; ; quoted in . The legal text ''Norðleoda laga'' () also included the five-

qualification but added that the land had to be kept for three generations. Thegnhood was also attainable to the merchant who "fared thrice over the wide sea by his own means."

Households

A noble household included a number of retainers, termed (, ; from which the modern word ''knight'' derives) or (, ). Thegnly wills can be used to reconstruct noble households. Thurstan Lustwine's will, written , left land to his and his two chaplains (who in addition to religious duties would also have performed secretarial work). The will of a noblewoman named Leofgifu left land to her three stewards, two

reeves Reeves may refer to: People * Reeves (surname) * B. Reeves Eason (1886–1956), American director, actor and screenwriter * Reeves Nelson (born 1991), American basketball player Places ;Ireland * Reeves, County Kildare, townland in County Kild ...

, a chaplain, and her . Another household officer identified in wills is that of huntsman (). Just as king's thegns served in the royal household, lesser thegns served as the seneschals,

chamberlains Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Austen Chamberlain (1863-1937), British politician **Houston Stewa ...

, and stewards of king's thegns and ealdormen. These were considered honourable posts rather than servile positions. Vagn, the leader of Earl Leofric's housecarls, owned 54 hides of land with his main manor at

Wootton Wawen Wootton Wawen is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of Englan ...

(). High ranking men such as Vagn would have formed the inner circle of the lord's household.

Post-conquest England

In 1066, there were an estimated 5,000 thegns in England. After the

Norman conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

in 1066,

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

replaced the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy with Normans, who replaced the previous terminology with their own names for such social ranks. Those previously known as thegns became part of the knightly class.

Runestones

During the later part of the tenth and in the eleventh centuries in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, it became common for families or comrades to raise memorial

runestones A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

. Approximately fifty of these note that the deceased was a thegn. Examples of such runestones include Sö 170 at Nälberga, Vg 59 at Norra Härene, Vg 150 at Velanda, DR 143 at Gunderup, DR 209 at Glavendrup, and DR 277 at Rydsgård.

References

Citations

Sources

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